Marmite lovers says they are delighted with the new sculpture celebrating the yeast spread which has been sited in the centre of Burton-upon-Trent.

Nicknamed 'Monumite', it is a demonstration of affection for one of Britain's most famous brands, made in Staffordshire.

Carved from Portland Stone, the sculpture also incorporates some digital elements.

It also marks the end of a spoof political campaign.

Party pledges

The 'campaign', launched in a spirit of fun, which saw the Love Party triumph over the Hate Party, was fought alongside the 2010 General Election, with members of the public casting their choices online. The marketing campaign encouraged the use of a range of social media networks, on which each 'party' made a series of pledges.

The Hate Party pledged to set up designated Marmite eating zones if they won the election, eventually deporting Marmite users to Guernsey...

The Love Party hit back by pledging to set up anger management courses for Marmite haters and to criminalise all acts of face-pulling towards the Marmite-loving community.

Victory for the Hate Party would have seen the makers of Marmite launch a special new version across the country called Tarmite.

But it was the the Love Party who were the victors after polls closed on Thursday, 29 April; and they have now begun to fulfil their manifesto which promised "a Marmite shrine for lovers across the world to congregate and worship".

Tom Denyard, Marketing Manager at Unilever, which makes Marmite, said: "We think the final sculpture perfectly represents and celebrates our long-standing relationship with Burton and the local area."

Unveiling ceremony

The carving was done by
APS Masonry
and takes pride of place in Burton's Market Place, next to the town's library and overlooking the River Trent.

The shrine was christened 'Monumite' after a competition to find a suitable name. The competition was won by Kevin McDonald from Birmingham and Claire Tye from Dorset who both came up with the same suggestion.

Those visitors who make the 'pilgrimage' to the shrine will be able to download a host of content to their mobile phone via Bluetooth.

Unique content

The content celebrates Marmite and Burton's history and heritage and includes:

• a digital flythrough of archive photos and love notes

• a podcast telling the story of Marmite and Master Blender, St John Skelton

• an animation produced by local digital artist Mark Yorke with support from Staffordshire County Council

Project design

Having conceived the project, creative agency Spark commissioned brand consultants JAM to design the sculpture, which had a budget of £15,000.

Mark Prescott, Director of Spark said: "The aim of the shrine was to provide Burton and Marmite fans with an authentic and innovative piece of public art and we hope it will drive new visitors to the area and be treasured for many years to come."

Jamie Anley, Director of JAM added: "We intended to keep the design of the piece very simple. The form of the Marmite jar is so instantly recognisable; we wanted to celebrate this iconicity by producing a schematic representation of it."

The unveiling ceremony took place on Monday, 18 October.

Kiss remake

The Monumite is not the first piece of public art associated with the spread.

A remake of "The Kiss" by Rodin, made completely from Marmite, was unveiled for Valentine's Day in 2008 at London's Greenwich Park. Sculptor Jeremy Fattorini used 420 jars of the spread to make it.

In the General Election 2010 itself, the maker of Marmite, Unilever, threatened legal action against the British National Party to stop it from using a jar of the spread in a party broadcast.

Since 1902 Marmite has been produced in Staffordshire, just a stone's throw from the Bass Beer brewing factory in Burton-on-Trent, and was originally made from the yeast by-product of the brewing process.

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